Music Aloud Playback – Top 25 of 2013

And another year comes to a close in about ten days. An year that was again very fruitful musically, some composers in particular being in exceptional form through the year. But we have not gone into a composer-wise analysis this time either, due to paucity of time. Instead we have just worked on the various song listings, and have four playlists of 25 songs each for you, one up from last year! Let’s take a look at the music then. The format, as usual, is Song Title (Movie) – Composer(s)|Singer(s)|Lyricist(s). And we have gone by the movie release year in every case.

Bollywood Top 25

Barring a couple of them, every leading composer had a fabulous 2013, composing at least one soundtrack of note. And below is our top 25 for the year. Needless to say, these are based on personal preferences and not on hit charts. Click on the individual song title to listen to it. There is also a playlist at the end of the section.

1 Manmarziyan (Lootera) – Amit Trivedi|Shilpa Rao, Amit Trivedi, Amitabh Bhattacharya|Amitabh Bhattacharya

2 O Rangrez (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag) – Shankar Ehsaan Loy|Shreya Ghoshal, Javed Bashir|Prasoon Joshi

3 Tere Mere Beech (Shuddh Desi Romance) – Sachin Jigar|Sunidhi Chauhan, Mohit Chauhan|Jaideep Sahni

4 Piya Milenge (Raanjhanaa) – A R Rahman|Sukhwinder Singh, KMMC Sufi Ensemble|Irshad Kamil

5 Manjha (Kai Po Che) – Amit Trivedi|Amit Trivedi|Swanand Kirkire

6 Murshid Khele Holi (D Day) – Shankar Ehsaan Loy|Munnawar Masoom, Javed Ali, Shankar Mahadevan, Gaurav Gupta, Rajiv Sundaresan, Mani Mahadevan, Raman Mahadevan|Niranjan Iyengar

7 Tum Hi Ho (Aashiqui 2) – Mithoon|Arijit Singh|Mithoon

8 Babaji Ki Booty (Go Goa Gone) – Sachin Jigar|Sachin Jigar|Amitabh Bhattacharya

9 Kabira (Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani) – Pritam|Rekha Bhardwaj, Tochi Raina|Amitabh Bhattacharya

10 Mera Yaar (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag) – Shankar Ehsaan Loy|Javed Bashir|Prasoon Joshi

11 Kaun Mera (Special 26) – M M Kreem|Papon|Irshad Kamil

12 Ambar Sariya (Fukrey) – Ram Sampath|Sona Mohapatra|Traditional folk lyrics

13 Sawar Loon (Lootera) – Amit Trivedi|Monali Thakur|Amitabh Bhattacharya20

14 Alvida (D Day) – Shankar Ehsaan Loy|Nikhil D’Souza, Shruti Haasan, Sukhwinder Singh|Niranjan Iyengar

15 Laal Ishq (Ram Leela) – Sanjay Leela Bhansali|Arijit Singh|Siddharth-Garima

16 Gulaabi (Shuddh Desi Romance) – Sachin Jigar|Jigar Saraiya, Priya Saraiya|Jaideep Sahni

17 Dil Ki Toh Lag Gayi (Nautanki Saala) – Mikey McCleary|Saba Azad|Kausar Munir

18 Janam Janam (Phata Poster Nikla Hero) – Pritam|Sunidhi Chauhan|Irshad Kamil

19 Tum Tak (Raanjhanaa) – A R Rahman|Javed Ali, Pooja Vaidyanath, Keerthi Sagathia|Irshad Kamil

20 Sapna Re Sapna (Ek Thi Daayan) – Vishal Bhardwaj|Padmanabh Gaikwad|Gulzar

21 Titli (Chennai Express) – Vishal Shekhar|Chinmayi, Gopi Sunder|Amitabh Bhattacharya

22 Badtameez Dil (Yeh Jawaan Hai Deewani) – Pritam|Benny Dayal, Shefali Alvares|Amitabh Bhattacharya

23 Khoon Choos Le (Go Goa Gone) – Sachin Jigar|Arjun Kanungo, Suraj Jagan & Priya Panchal|Amitabh Bhattacharya

24 Dil Kaagzi (Gippi) – Vishal Shekhar|Neeti Mohan|Anvita Dutt Guptan

25 Shubhaarambh (Kai Po Che) – Amit Trivedi|Shruti Pathak, Divya Kumar|Swanand Kirkire

Five more songs that fell just shy of the top 25 but deserve a mention.

26 Khamakha (Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola) – Vishal Bhardwaj|Vishal Bhardwaj, Prem Dehati|Gulzar

27 Slow Motion Angreza (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag) – Shankar Ehsaan Loy|Loy Mendonsa, Sukhwinder Singh|Prasoon Joshi

28 Yaaram (Ek Thi Daayan) – Vishal Bhardwaj|Sunidhi Chauhan, Clinton Cerejo|Gulzar

29 Ajnabi (Madras Cafe) – Shantanu Moitra|Zebunnisa Bangash|Zebunnisa Bangash

30 Out of Control – Choir Version (David) – Mikey McCleary|Various|Mikey McCleary

Playlist for the top 25:

Top 25 Malayalam film songs

So this is the bonus playlist this year. In all my previous roundups, I used to bundle up all film music I had heard outside of Bollywood into one common playlist. Turns out this year I had heard a lot of (good) Malayalam songs, a large enough number to summarize into a playlist of 25. So here goes.

1 Aathmaavil (Amen) – Prashant Pillai|Preethi Pillai, Swetha Mohan, Kavitha Mohan, Sankar Sharma|Kavalam Narayana Panicker

2 Thaazhvaaram (Thira) – Shaan Rahman|Hisham Abbas, Neha Nair|Anu Elizabeth Jose

3 Kaal Kuzhanju (Left Right Left) – Gopi Sunder|Murali Gopi|Rafeeq Ahmed

4 Kaatte Kaatte (Celluloid) – M Jayachandran|Vaikkom Vijayalakshmi, G Sreeram|Rafeeq Ahmed

5 Laalee Laalee (Kalimannu) – M Jayachandran|Mridula Warrier, Sudeep Kumar|O N V Kurup

6 Harthal Punk (North 24 Kaatham) – Govind Menon|Aneesh Krishnan, Govind Menon|Rafeeq Ahmed

7 Doore Doore (Neelaakaasham Pachakkadal Chuvanna Bhoomi) – Rex Vijayan|Suchith Suresan|Vinayak Sasikumar

8 Enithonnum (Celluloid) – M Jayachandran|Sithara|Engandiyoor Chandrasekharan

9 Hey Ithu Vazhi (Arikil Oraal) – Gopi Sunder|Indrajith, Chithra Iyer|Anu Elizabeth Jose

10 Thaazhe Nee (Thira) – Shaan Rahman|Job Kurien, Sachin Warrier, Sayanora Philip|Anu Elizabeth Jose

11 Doore Doore (Geethanjali) – Vidyasagar|Rajalakshmi|O N V Kurup

12 Ponnoonjalil (Aaru Sundarimaarude Kadha) – Deepak Dev|Chithra, Venugopal, Kalyani Menon|Kaithapram

13 Mazha Neertha (Anju Sundarikal) – Bijibal|Gayathri Ashok|Sunil Raj Sathya

14 Vattoli (Amen) – Prashant Pillai|Lucky Ali|Kavalam Narayana Panicker

15 Chenthalire (KQ) – Stephen Devassy|Benny Dayal, Shaktisree Gopalan|Rafeeq Ahmed

16 Porumo Porumo (North 24 Kaatham) – Govind Menon|Raghu Dixit, Bijibal|Rafeeq Ahmed

17 Shalabhamai (Kalimannu) – M Jayachandran|Shreya Ghoshal, Sudeep Kumar|O N V Kurup

18 Oru Mezhuthiriyude (Vishudhan) – Gopi Sunder|Shahabaz Aman, Mridula Warrier|Rafeeq Ahmed, Murugan Kaattaakkada

19 Kaayalinarike (Annayum Rasoolum) – K|Shahabaz Aman|Meppally Balan

20 Neerpalunkukal (Neelaakaasham Pachakkadal Chuvanna Bhoomi) – Rex Vijayan|Saju Sreenivas|Vinayak Sasikumar

21 Solomonum Shoshannayum (Amen) – Prashant Pillai|Preethi Pillai, V Sreekumar|P S Rafeeq

22 Kannaadi Chillil (Natholi Oru Cheriya Meenalla) – Abhijit Shylanath|Arvind Venugopal|Anu Elizabeth Jose

23 Shalabhamay (English) – Rex Vijayan|Neha Nair|Shibu Chakravarthy

24 Veyil Chilla (Zachariyayude Garbhinikal) – Vishnu-Sarath|Vishnu, Jyotsna|Engandiyoor Chandrasekharan

25 En Kani Malare (Philips and the Monkey Pen) – Rahul Subramaniam|Neha Venugopal|Siby Padiyara

And five other honorary mentions

26 Etho Saayaahna (10.30 AM Local Call) – Gopi Sunder|Sachin Warrier|Rafeeq Ahmed

27 Antha Naalil (Pattam Pole) – M Jayachandran|Madhu Balakrishnan, Harini|Annamalai

28 Koodeyirikkaam (Ezhu Sundara Raathrikal) – Prashant Pillai|Haricharan, Gayathri Ashok|Rafeeq Ahmed

29  Otta Thumbi (Pullippulikalum Aattinkuttiyum) – Vidyasagar|Shankar Mahadevan, Chithra|Sarath Vayalar

30 Akale (Left Right Left) – Gopi Sunder|Gopi Sunder|Rafeeq Ahmed

Playlist for the top 25:

Top 25 film songs from other languages

Now that Malayalam has gone into a list of its own, this playlist is comprised mostly of Tamil songs, with a smattering of Bengali and Telugu. The list is compiled from what I heard, so there is a chance this compilation might be missing some key soundtracks.

1 Moongil Thottam (Kadal) – A R Rahman|Abhay Jodhpurkar, Harini|Vairamuthu

2 Yenga Pona Raasa (Maryan) – A R Rahman|Shaktisree Gopalan|Kutti Revathi, A R Rahman

3 Aaha Kaadhal (Moondru Per Moondru Kaadhal) – Yuvan Shankar Raja|Nandini Srikar|Na. Muthukumar

4 Unnai Kaanaadhu (Vishwaroopam) – Shankar Ehsaan Loy|Kamal Haasan, Shankar Mahadevan|Kamal Haasan

5 Nenjukkulle (Kadal) – A R Rahman|Shaktisree Gopalan|Vairamuthu

6 Neela Evaru (Swamy Ra Ra) – Sunny M R|Arijit Singh|Krishna Chaitanya

7 Hey (Vanakkam Chennai) – Anirudh|Papon, Maria Roe Vincent|Na. Muthukumar

8 Kuru Kuru (Vathikkuchi) – Ghibran|Sundar Narayana Rao|Na. Muthukumar

9 Kallaale Senju (Chithiraiyil Nila Choru) – Ilayaraja|Haricharan|Vaalee

10 Ae Le Le (Naiyaandi) – Ghibran|Leon D’Souza, Sundar Narayana Rao|Arivumathi

11 Mor Bhabonare (Hawa Bodol) – Indradeep Dasgupta|Saptarishi Mukherjee, Sahana Bajpaie|Rabindranath Tagore

12 Vaazhkaiye (David) – Bramfatura|Siddharth Basrur|Mohan Rajan

13 Kaattukkulla Kannamoochi (Sutta Kadhai) – Madley Blues|Harish Venkat, Vijay Prakash, Harshitha Krishnan|Subu

14 Yedhukkaaga (Rummy) – D Imman|Santhosh Hariharan, A V Pooja|Yugabharathi

15 Din Khon Mapa (Hawa Bodol) – Indradeep Dasgupta|Arijit Singh|Angshuman Chakraborty

16 Elay Keechan (Kadal) – A R Rahman|A R Rahman, Vijaynarain Rangarajan, Suchith Suresan|Madhan Karky

17 Thuppaakki (Vishwaroopam) – Shankar Ehsaan Loy|Benny Dayal, Kamal Haasan|Vairamuthu, Asif Ali Beg

18 Kanave (David) – Anirudh|Anirudh|Mohan Rajan

19 Kanna Kanna (Vathikkuchi) – Ghibran|Sundar Narayana Rao|Arivumathi

20 Kaatru Veesum (Neram) – Rajesh Murugesan|Haricharan|Pradeep Palarr

21 Innum Konjam (Maryan) – A R Rahman|Swetha Mohan, Vijay Prakash|Kabilan, A R Rahman

22 Ananda Yaazhai (Thanga Meengal) – Yuvan Shankar Raja|Sriram Parthasarathy|Na. Muthukumar

23 Kafer Tomake (Goynar Baksho) – Debojyoti Mishra|Rupankar|Srijato

24 O Naadu Washington (Greeku Veerudu) – Thaman|SP Balasubramaniam

25 Adiyae Enna Raagam (Rummy) – D Imman|Abhay Jodhpurkar, Poornima Satish|Yugabharathi

Another five that missed out.

26 Angyaade (Raja Rani) – G V Prakash|Shaktisree Gopalan|Pa. Vijay

27 Pistah (Neram) – Rajesh Murugesan|Sabareesh Varma|Jagathi Sreekumar

28 Osaka Osaka (Vanakkam Chennai) – Anirudh|Anirudh, Pragathi Raviprasad|Madhan Karky

29 Megh Dutam (Satyanweshi) – Debojyoti Mishra|Srijan Chatterjee

30 Biriyani (Biriyani) – Yuvan Shankar Raja|Tanvi Shah, Bhavatharini, Vilasini|Gangai Amaren, Tanvi Shah

Top 25 Playlist:

Top 25 Non Film Songs

Since we already made a top 15 list for Coke Studio India, we have avoided that in this compilation. The non-film scene has seen a lot of top quality music this year; in the form of new albums and in TV shows – Dewarists, Sound Trippin’ and a new entrant to the scene down South, Music Mojo from Kappa TV. And while we know it is not the best thing to be ranking songs from totally different genres, there had to be some sort of a pecking order. Hence here it is. Not all songs are available for streaming online, so relevant links have been provided wherever possible.  And we have considered only original songs that came out this year.

1 Jag Changa (Jag Changa) – Raghu Dixit

2 Barsan Laage Nain (Attuned Spirits) – Vasuda Sharma

3 Khirama (Dewarists) – Lucky Ali, Prashant Pillai

4 Kodagana Koli (Jag Changa) – Raghu Dixit

5 Chekkele (Epic Shit) – Sanjeev Thomas, Baiju Dharmajan

6 Nain Matakka (Sound Trippin’) – Sneha Khanwalkar, Sneha Pandit

7 Soleil (Doppelganger) – Dualist Inquiry

8 Shaitaan (2) – Sifar

9 Alchemy (The Crossover) – Baiju Dharmajan

10 Yahweh (Big Big Joke) – Tough On Tobacco

11 Whole (The Tattva Trip) – Suraj Mani

12 Kaanaan Kannu (Music Mojo) – Job Kurian

13 Bliss (Bliss) – Arun Shenoy

14 Dhola (Attuned Spirits) – Vasuda Sharma

15 Saanware (Single) – Rushi Vakil, Aniket Khandekar

16 Baawri (Farida) – Abhijeet Sawant

17 Saiyon Asi (Shah Hussain Project) – Vasundhara Das

18 Longing (FluteTronics) – Naveen Kumar, Karsh Kale

19 Kaalan (Music Mojo) – Neha Nair

20 Amma (Jag Changa) – Raghu Dixit

21 Love Love Love (Big Big Joke) – Tough on Tobacco

22 Exile (Doppelganger) – Dualist Inquiry

23 Fish Rock (Music Mojo) – Thaikkudam Bridge

24 Tipush Tapush (Sound Trippin’) – Karsh Kale, Nucleya

25 Zamzayo (Epic Shit) – Sanjeev Thomas

The playlist:

And that rounds up the 2013 music scene for us! Here’s looking forward to an equally awesome 2014!